14-year-old genius boy commits suicide

[QuitBanningMe]

Originally posted by: gopunk

Originally posted by: QuitBanningMe
ummm.....I have reproduced and I often wonder what the point is however one of the other points is to nurture offspring to ensure the continuation of the species. At least when it comes to humans.

What do you think the point is? Ice skating, Nascar? TV watching, eating. Give me something that is more viable than the continuation of a species as a point to life.

so... when you finish nurturing your offspring, are you going to kill yourself?

i'm afraid i can't give you anything more viable as a point to life... i'm of the belief that there is no "point" to life, insofar as something like "to serve christ" or "to improve the world". like you said, what's the point of an amoeba's life? i think you hit on my reason for living with "enjoy the ride"... i choose to live because i enjoy living, in and of itself.

Will I get tired of living one day? Possibly. Many people do but wait for other factors to take them out. If I feel that living is no longer productive for me I may take myself out.

Also when will I be done nurturing really. We have evolved and developed society to keep older folks around for their "wisdom". It help continue the species which is the point. Just an offshoot and means for successful reproduction.

The point of an amoeba's life is to make more amoebas. Maybe you should ask one how he likes life. Is he enjoying the ride?

 

[mobobuff]

I think I saw that kid on Oprah a few years ago...

 

[gopunk]

Originally posted by: QuitBanningMe

Originally posted by: gopunk

Originally posted by: QuitBanningMe
ummm.....I have reproduced and I often wonder what the point is however one of the other points is to nurture offspring to ensure the continuation of the species. At least when it comes to humans.

What do you think the point is? Ice skating, Nascar? TV watching, eating. Give me something that is more viable than the continuation of a species as a point to life.

so... when you finish nurturing your offspring, are you going to kill yourself?

i'm afraid i can't give you anything more viable as a point to life... i'm of the belief that there is no "point" to life, insofar as something like "to serve christ" or "to improve the world". like you said, what's the point of an amoeba's life? i think you hit on my reason for living with "enjoy the ride"... i choose to live because i enjoy living, in and of itself.

Will I get tired of living one day? Possibly. Many people do but wait for other factors to take them out. If I feel that living is no longer productive for me I may take myself out.

Also when will I be done nurturing really. We have evolved and developed society to keep older folks around for their "wisdom". It help continue the species which is the point. Just an offshoot and means for successful reproduction.

The point of an amoeba's life is to make more amoebas. Maybe you should ask one how he likes life. Is he enjoying the ride?

i'm not sure how you have come to the conclusion that the point of an amoeba's life is to make more amoebas. that seems to just be coming out of nowhere... an organism may be *able* to reproduce and the survival of future organisms may depend on them doing so, but in and of itself, that doesn't have any implications on what the "purpose" of that organism is.

and are you really living for the sole purpose of nurturing? i think very few people are that altruistic.

 

[Orsorum]

Originally posted by: Gurck
I'm nowhere near as smart as that kid and find it depressing that our species is, by and large, so extraordinarily stupid. I can definitely see him being pretty depressed. Dumber people are definitely emotionally better off.

'Bout sums up my thoughts on the matter. I spent the better part of my middle teen years flirting with the idea of suicide because of the futility of existence.

 

[Howard]

I hope he did the right thing.

 

[Yanagi]

Ze aliens told 'im it was ze time!

 

[StageLeft]

Plenty of people, at various stages in their lives, hate where they're at. I remember when I was 13 was about the worst time in my life, happiness-wise.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Originally posted by: gopunk
just because you don't understand girls doesn't mean that nobody else does... just give it a few years.

I call Shens, no man ever truely can understand a woman's line of thinking... unless, they themselves are really a woman. If you mean that it takes time and experience to hone one's male skills in outsmarting/manipulating women, then that I would agree with.

 

[Tremulant]

Originally posted by: Skoorb
Plenty of people, at various stages in their lives, hate where they're at. I remember when I was 13 was about the worst time in my life, happiness-wise.

Me too. When I was between the ages of 13-16, I was extremely unhappy. That phase passed though, and everything is fine now.

I think my brother, who turns 14 in a couple of months, is beginning that phase.

 

[BespinReactorShaft]

I guess someone got his INT maxed out at the expense of WIS...

 

[PingSpike]

Originally posted by: kranky
What could possibly make a 14-year-old - genius or not - commit suicide? What can make someone that age think there's nothing to live for? This teen suicide increase is really baffling to me.

I thought about killing myself quite a bit when I was 13-14. I don't think I ever seriously considered it. But I was having a hard time coping with a lot of new sh|t in my life at that time. When I think back on it, I had no reason to feel that way. My life certainly wasn't amazing, but I didn't have any reason to be as depressed as I was. I think maybe my parents knew I was sad occasionally, but I don't think anyone outside of myself knew how depressed I really was. I never said anything to anyone.

I guess a poor understanding of the world overall, undeveloped reasoning skills and a string of social failures surrounding my late blooming contributed greatly. I mean, I must have known that it would end eventually.

There isn't any reason that a 14 year old should want to kill themselves.

 

[gigapet]

i'm not sure how you have come to the conclusion that the point of an amoeba's life is to make more amoebas. that seems to just be coming out of nowhere... an organism may be *able* to reproduce and the survival of future organisms may depend on them doing so, but in and of itself, that doesn't have any implications on what the "purpose" of that organism is.

and are you really living for the sole purpose of nurturing? i think very few people are that altruistic.

DNA propogation is the primary function and purpose of all living things.

 

[CVSiN]

Originally posted by: kranky

He started reading as a toddler, played piano at age 3, and delivered a high-school commencement speech in cap and gown when he was 10 ? his eyes barely visible over the podium.

Brandenn Bremmer was a child prodigy: He composed and recorded music, won piano competitions, breezed through college courses with an off-the-charts IQ, and mastered everything from archery to photography, hurtling through life precociously.

Then, on Tuesday, Brandenn was found dead in his Nebraska home from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound to his head.

He was 14. He left no note.

"Sometimes we wonder if maybe the physical, earthly world didn't offer him enough challenges and he felt it was time to move on and do something great," his mother, Patricia, said from the family home in Venango, Neb., a few miles from the Colorado border.

Brandenn showed no signs of depression, she said. He had just shown his family the art for the cover of his new CD that was about to be released.

He was, according to his family and teachers, an extraordinary blend of fun-loving child and serious adult. He loved Harry Potter and Mozart. He watched cartoons and enjoyed video games but gave classical-piano concerts for hundreds of people ? without a hint of stage fright.

"He wasn't just talented, he was just a really nice young man," said David Wohl, an assistant professor at Colorado State University, where Brandenn studied music after high school. "He had an easy smile. He really was unpretentious."

Link to full story.

What could possibly make a 14-year-old - genius or not - commit suicide? What can make someone that age think there's nothing to live for? This teen suicide increase is really baffling to me.

um being exiled by girls and your peers will do this... skipping grades is never a good thing .. all it does is destroy the persons social skills for the rest of thier life... his parents and school basically detsroyed any chance he would have ever had to lead a normal life..

this has happened before...
people like that are generally teased and made outcasts not only for being smart... but for beign way to young to be there in the first place.. they just wont ever fit in...

 

[Triumph]

I'm sure something similar has already been said, but I'll put in my two cents. It makes sense. How's the old saying go, the brightest candle burns the shortest? Throughout history, people of exceptional talent in certain areas have shown to be extremely defficient in others. Isaac Newton was a perfect example. One of the smartest men who ever lived was also extremely introverted, rude, anti-social, and just downright nasty. He would spend years at a time, working in a room every waking hour. Not "normal." I've always had this theory that if you could somehow asign an objective value to every factor and metric that makes up a human being, the sum total for each person would be the same. This boy seemed to have everything going for him, exceptionally capable in everything that he did, likeable, etc. That can't go on forever. In a manner of speaking, his "lifespan" metric provided the necessary counterbalance that brought him back down to the sum total value that the rest of us are limited by.

 

[maziwanka]

he didnt' have a life outside academia

 

[ts3433]

Originally posted by: CVSiN
um being exiled by girls and your peers will do this... skipping grades is never a good thing .. all it does is destroy the persons social skills for the rest of thier life... his parents and school basically detsroyed any chance he would have ever had to lead a normal life..

this has happened before...
people like that are generally teased and made outcasts not only for being smart... but for beign way to young to be there in the first place.. they just wont ever fit in...

Eh... I think skipping one grade is fine, having done it myself (with kindergarten, which might seem to be the least harmful). It hasn't really adversely affected me. Then again, those that go to normal-size public schools (unlike mine--mine aren't private either, though) will probably experience quite different results.

On everything else, I completely agree with you, though.

 

[Thurgo0dy]

Originally posted by: Feldenak

Originally posted by: Baked
Genuis = Psycho. He was too smart for his own good.

 

[CraigRT]

Originally posted by: Skoorb
Plenty of people, at various stages in their lives, hate where they're at. I remember when I was 13 was about the worst time in my life, happiness-wise.

For me it's right about now, but i'm not going to off myself that's for sure

I know what you're saying though.

 

Originally posted by: kranky

He started reading as a toddler, played piano at age 3, and delivered a high-school commencement speech in cap and gown when he was 10 ? his eyes barely visible over the podium.

Brandenn Bremmer was a child prodigy: He composed and recorded music, won piano competitions, breezed through college courses with an off-the-charts IQ, and mastered everything from archery to photography, hurtling through life precociously.

Then, on Tuesday, Brandenn was found dead in his Nebraska home from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound to his head.

He was 14. He left no note.

"Sometimes we wonder if maybe the physical, earthly world didn't offer him enough challenges and he felt it was time to move on and do something great," his mother, Patricia, said from the family home in Venango, Neb., a few miles from the Colorado border.

Brandenn showed no signs of depression, she said. He had just shown his family the art for the cover of his new CD that was about to be released.

He was, according to his family and teachers, an extraordinary blend of fun-loving child and serious adult. He loved Harry Potter and Mozart. He watched cartoons and enjoyed video games but gave classical-piano concerts for hundreds of people ? without a hint of stage fright.

"He wasn't just talented, he was just a really nice young man," said David Wohl, an assistant professor at Colorado State University, where Brandenn studied music after high school. "He had an easy smile. He really was unpretentious."

Link to full story.

What could possibly make a 14-year-old - genius or not - commit suicide? What can make someone that age think there's nothing to live for? This teen suicide increase is really baffling to me.

I heard this news on radio yesterday. Of course I was waiting to hear that he left a suicide note. But he didn't leave a suicide note? What a genius! :-/

 

[91TTZ]

Originally posted by: ts3433
Often such efforts to get a life fail because small talk is extremely boring to me, and that's unfortunately my only hope at present. I don't want to get stuck on ATOT for the rest of my life.

I also don't see the sense in small talk. Unfortunately life turns out to be a popularity contest and those who are the best bullshi**ers get the farthest. You'd think that your success depends solely on your own capabilities but it doesn't work that way. How often do you the the smartest people in a country become its leaders? How often do you see "popular" people like moviestars, rich kids, and showmen become its leaders?

 

[Leper Messiah]

Originally posted by: ts3433
<-- Admits he's an asshat, apologizes to the forum

<rant>

I often internally succumb to such pressures myself, as I am also 14, though in the opinion of my pessimistic mind I am far from possessing the talents of those described in the linked articles. Often I think of myself as inept at anything I attempt in comparison to others, though I cannot help but assume this only by drastically disparate comparisons. I don't bother to do anything about it, though. It doesn't affect me much, and still I try to become somewhat normal. Often such efforts to get a life fail because small talk is extremely boring to me, and that's unfortunately my only hope at present. I don't want to get stuck on ATOT for the rest of my life.

</rant>

But why the hell am I ranting anyway? It's my own damn fault for not doing a thing to change.

I would agree that 14's a tough time to go through, but I have it easy at a 350-person HS (albeit on a campus of over 20,000).

w00t for middle colleges!

Guy figured out he had zero chance of ever getting any booty. If I couldn't get sex, I would probably kill myself too.

 

[ohnnyj]

Originally posted by: QuitBanningMe

more viable than the continuation of a species as a point to life.

If you want to know the meaning of life I recommend the Bible.

Spare me. I've read it more times than years you have been alive no matter how old you are along with many other religous text.

Do you think the meaning of life is to get to heaven? What was it before the original sin?
[/quote]

We were originally created to please God which is just one of many purposes we have. Read "The Purpose Driven Life" by Rick Warren if you get the chance.

We were created to:

1. Please God through worship.
2. Become like Christ.
3. Fellowship with others.
4. Serve others.
5. Tell others about salvation from sin through Jesus.

Of course this isn't the end all be all list of our only purposes but some of the main ones.

 

[QuitBanningMe]

We were originally created to please God which is just one of many purposes we have. Read "The Purpose Driven Life" by Rick Warren if you get the chance.

We were created to:

1. Please God through worship.
2. Become like Christ.
3. Fellowship with others.
4. Serve others.
5. Tell others about salvation from sin through Jesus.

Of course this isn't the end all be all list of our only purposes but some of the main ones.[/quote]
It took you that long to come up with that and it still doesn't answer my question?

 

[BudAshes]

Maybe he found out a government secret and they had to kill him.

 

[gopunk]

Originally posted by: VirtualLarry

Originally posted by: gopunk
just because you don't understand girls doesn't mean that nobody else does... just give it a few years.

I call Shens, no man ever truely can understand a woman's line of thinking... unless, they themselves are really a woman. If you mean that it takes time and experience to hone one's male skills in outsmarting/manipulating women, then that I would agree with.

well, i guess what i said applies to you too then